Elaine
writes: "The most unusual case I have had was a young
woman with Crohn's and RA. She went on the diet and reported
it (unknown to me) to her local newspaper who ran an article
about her and the book [Breaking The Vicious Cycle]. I met
her eventually and found she worked in a Stratford, Ontario
health store. One week, she was not there and I was told she
was sick. This was 6 months after all Crohn's and arthritis
symptoms had gone. I called her and although she did not have
Crohn's symptoms, she had a terrible case of arthritis. It
took 2 months to clear but clear it did and since I have moved
away, I have lost touch."
Regarding
whether arthritis is a result of the IBD or a result of the
medications used to treat the disease, Elaine
writes: "From all the research I've come across, the
arthritis is part of the same autoimmune reaction that causes
IBD. In Fact, Dr. Alan Ebringer in London, England is a rheumatoid
arthritis specialist who uses the identical diet as the SCD.
He claims to have figured out that when treating his arthritis
patients with 5-amino-salicylic acid (aspirin-like drug which
Asacol is) that he did not get the same positive results as
when he treated them with Azulfidine with not only as the
5-amino-salicylic but also a compound which inhibits the growth
of bacteria. He then reasoned that arthritis may be starting
with the gut bacteria and finally concluded that most of his
arthritic patients (actually ankylosing spondylitis) had Crohns
lesions in their gut. So he used the diet. I do not think
the prednisone causes it although it sure has other side effects.
Archived discussion on arthritis
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